Houston's arts community

Support Houston's arts efforts

Robin Robinson, right, carries a heavy piece of original artwork made by Steven Graber during The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival, Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Houston. Robinson said he bought a painting from the same artist a year before. The festival features event features 200 juried fine art and fine craft artists .( Nick de la Torre / Chronicle )

According to the first lady of Houston's arts and culture, Houston got off to a great start.

"Houston was lucky," Ima Hogg once mused. "The first people who got rich here, in the days long before oil, were nice people." She went on to note that early residents gave their money to many good causes including the arts. "They set the pattern. This is what Houstonians do once they get a little money."

We read Miss Ima's comment in the Arts & Cultural Heritage Community Indicator Report just released by the Center for Houston's Future. The study confirms that, in many respects, our arts community continues to thrive and Houstonians continue to give.

Contributions to our cultural and arts institutions increased by more than 80 percent during the first decade of this century. And we have many new arts and cultural organizations, founded since 1999 and dubbed "millennials." In fact, these millennials account for more than 40 percent of all the cultural organizations in our region.

But while the big institutions are booming and the millennials are appearing (and some disappearing) at a speedy clip, the trail of revenue, both philanthropic dollars and ticket sales, paints a more complicated picture. Eighty-eight percent of the increase in donations went to just 27 organizations. And the millennials account for only 10 percent of the total revenue (ticket sales and donations) accrued.

The Center concludes its report by saying that we're doing well at the bottom and at the top of the arts and cultural community ladder, but that too few rungs exist in the middle.

These middle rungs are crucial for the success of the arts in Houston. Granted that our city and region confront many pressing problems such as crime, traffic and homelessness, but the arts are a city's soul. We can help our arts community by becoming the carpenters of those middle rungs.

While many of the report's indicators portend well for the future of arts in our community, others do not: In 2013, Texas ranked 48th among U.S. states in spending on the arts: only 11 cents per person. In the end, the most important indicator of a vibrant arts community is the size of its audience. All of us who can should catch a show or two and enjoy.